July 23, 2009 (FinancialWire) (By Philip Holmes) — Stocks ended mixed on Wednesday as investors took in good earnings news from the likes of Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) and not-so-good reports from Morgan Stanley & Co. (NYSE: MS) and Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC).

The Dow Jones industrial average closed at 8,881.26, down 34.68 points, while the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index lost 0.51 points, at 954.07. The Nasdaq composite index, on the other hand, gained 10.18 points to end the trading session at 1,926.38.

Starbucks posted third-quarter non-GAAP EPS of $0.24 vs. $0.16 for the same period last year. Same store sales were down by 5.5%, but the company managed to up its operating margins. Apple also saw a rise in Q3 EPS, which came in at $1.35 vs. $1.19. Revenues were up 12% and the company is now eyeing fourth-quarter revenue in the $8.7 billion to $8.9 billion range.

Boeing posted Q2 EPS of $1.41 on stronger revenues, beating Wall Street forecasts of $1.21 EPS.

Homebuilders became buys after news hit that the May FHFA home price index was up by nearly a point.

Then there were the banks.

Wells Fargo reported Q2 EPS of $0.57 vs. $0.53, beating Street expectations. But the company also said it expects to see a rise in credit losses and nonperforming assets.

Morgan Stanley reported a $1.37 Q2 loss per share from continuing operations. US Bancorp reported its revenues up 9.4%, but still posted $0.12 vs. $0.53 Q2 EPS due to increased loan loss provisions and credit costs. KeyCorp disappointed Street expectations, posting a $0.68 Q2 loss per share on an increased provision for loan losses.

In case after case, banks continue to look weak as the economy fails to recover fast enough to offset massive hits being taken on defaulting mortgages, auto loans and credit card portfolios. The impression of danger was only heightened by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s Wednesday testimony before the Senate Banking Committee.

Bernanke said he will continue to tempt the inflation fates by keeping with a loose monetary policy. The economy, he said, is just too feeble for the Fed to do otherwise.

The Investrend Economics Calendar lists Weekly Initial Jobless Claims (8:30 a.m.), Existing Home Sales for June (10 a.m.), Treasury announces 2, 5, & 7-year notes 20-year TIPs (1 p.m.).

The Investrend Events Calendar showcases NRG, SRE, DNR, PWE at Infocast Carbon Sequestration Development and Finance Summit.

The Investrend Money Index is an indicator of the depth of market direction or indirection. While not always including the same stocks, the NYSE/NASDAQ 50 Most Actives indicate the direction in which the mass of money is flowing. Last session’s trading showed 34 advancers versus 16 decliners. Advancers were led by Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) up 18.38%, Antigenics Inc. (NASDAQ: AGEN) up 16.48%, Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTIC) up 7.95%, Keycorp (NYSE: KEY) up 7.05%. Decliners followed Adv Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) down 12.99%.

Investrend Website of the Day: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/oakley/

Quote of the Day: “You can pick out actors by the glazed look that comes into their eyes when the conversation wanders away from them.” Michael Wilding

Today is: Revolution Day in Egypt and Libya, Remembrance Day in Papua New Guinea.

Happy Birthday: Arthur Treacher, Pee Wee Reese, Cyril M. Kornbluth, Don Drysdale, Ronny Cox, Tony Joe White, Michael Wilding, Gardner Dozois, Woody Harrelson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Alison Krauss, Marlon Wayans, Michelle Williams, Daniel Radcliffe.

Today in History: In the United States in 1829, William Austin Burt patented the first typewriter. Ford Motor Company sold its first car in 1903 to Dr. Ernst Pfenning of Chicago. In 1926, Fox Film bought the patents of the Movietone sound system for recording sound onto film. Telstar relayed the first live trans-Atlantic television signal in 1962. The United States launched Landsat 1 in 1972, first Earth-resources satellite. The International Whaling Commission decided in 1982 to end commercial whaling by 1985-86. Comet Hale-Bopp was discovered in 1995 and was visibly seen with a naked eye nearly a year later.

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